


Alpha/Omega

by Maverick



Category: Inception
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-14
Updated: 2011-03-14
Packaged: 2017-10-16 22:30:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/170074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maverick/pseuds/Maverick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reality or a dream? It doesn’t matter. Not really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alpha/Omega

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Pollitt and Data785 for cheerleading and inspiration.

Even before the Fischer job – before Inception – Arthur knew his days of dreaming were numbered. He was very good at what he did – the best in fact – but the reality of dreaming – and Arthur was well aware of the irony in that statement – had lost its appeal.

He just couldn’t do it anymore. But more than that, he didn’t _want_ to.

What they don’t tell you about dreamshare is that in the beginning the dreams gleam with such vibrant possibility that they’re brighter than snow in sunlight. Reality becomes dingy in comparison. And Arthur was fine with that. He never much liked the real world anyway. He spent years being the baby-faced protégé, the genius no one wanted to take seriously.

That was until he met Mal. Arthur had meant it when he told Ariadne that Mal had been lovely. She had always seemed larger than life to Arthur, as if reality was the only world that could hold her. And she had understood him, she had nurtured him – like she nurtured everyone – and she was the brightest light he had ever seen.

Well, until he met Eames. Eames -- with his colorful tattoos and even more colorful personality. Eames who took one look at Arthur and decided that he was for him. Eames, who could be anything to anyone – inside a dream and out. Eames who decided that all he wanted in the whole bloody world was Arthur.

And Arthur had latched on to that, had latched on to *Eames*. Arthur had finally found a reality that made the dreamworld pale in comparison.

  


~*~*~*~*~*~

  
 _Arthur lobs the grenade toward the projections closing in on them. “Seriously, you couldn’t have at least toned down your wardrobe in the dream?”_

 _Eames smirks as he carefully places the explosives on the side of the building. He winks at Arthur. “What can I say, darling. I like to stand out in a crowd.”_

 _Arthur shakes his head, as he provides coverfire. “I’d prefer it if you weren’t such an easy target.”_

 _Eames pulls Arthur to his side and smiles. He nuzzles Arthur’s temple as he sets off the charges. “Arthur, who knew you were such a romantic?”_

 _“Hardly. It’s just if you’re a target, so am I.”_

 _“Admit it, you like my style. Besides, this way you’ll always know where to find me,” Eames says as they jump off the roof._

  


~*~*~*~*~*~

  
Arthur had finally learned to be happy. He was doing what he loved with a person who challenged him and made reality shine with bright possibility.

But than Mal jumped out a window and the lights went out for all of them. A world without Mal bended reality into a parody of a sepia dreamscape. It was a nightmare, and there was no escape, not even in the tight embrace of Eames’s arms.

Mal’s death sent Arthur running. Not just with Dom. But away from reality.

Away from Eames.

Because if someone as vibrant and full of life as Mal could lose track of reality, could forget the love of her husband, of her children. What chance did the rest of them have? What chance did he and Eames have?

  


~*~*~*~*~*~

  
 _Eames catches him by the arm and spins him around. “I never took you for a bloody coward.”_

 _Arthur meets Eames’s eyes. “Sometimes a strategic retreat is the only option. You taught me that.”_

 _Eames steps back, his hand still wrapped around Arthur’s wrist. “There’s nothing strategic about what you’re doing, Arthur. The consummate planner has no endgame. You’re blinded by your grief.”_

 _“I have to go. Cobb needs me.”_

 _“And what about me?” Eames’s voice breaks and Arthur almost gives in._

 _But in the end, he is a coward. “You’re better off without me.”_

 _Eames’s eyes flash with a mixture of hurt and anger. “You know that’s not true, love.”_

 _“I can’t, Eames. I can't. I have to go.”_

 _Eames drops his arm and steps away, no longer looking Arthur in the eye. “Then go. When you come to your senses, you know where to find me.”_

  


~*~*~*~*~*~

  
So he makes his escape. But the dreams no longer hold the same promise, the same oblivion. The ugly scepter of Mal’s projections take even the safety of dreams away from Arthur.

And he should have seen it coming. Dom’s downward spiral, Fischer’s militarized subconscious, but all he could see, all he could think about was what he lost.

What he threw away.

Afterward, when they found out that Dom had planted the seed that bloomed through Mal like cancer, Arthur knew he was truly done with dreaming. They had done the impossible but it didn’t make anything better.

Sure, Dom was back with his children, and their troubles with Cobol were taken care of thanks to Saito, but it hadn’t been worth it. None of it had been worth it because Mal was still dead. And Arthur had let Eames go.

No, Arthur had jettisoned Eames from his life because he didn’t want to face the pain of losing him on anything but his own terms.

Arthur was a stupid asshole sometimes.

And Eames. Eames was not the forgiving sort. He was loyal and brilliant, but Arthur had never known him to forget or forgive a betrayal. Arthur had always liked that about him. Well until now.

But the thing about waking up from a dream – from a nightmare of your own choosing – was that the euphoria of dawn could bring with it the courage (or stupidity) to take a chance to change the future.

  


~*~*~*~*~*~

  
 _So Arthur hops the next flight to Mombasa, sure in a way that he has no business to be that Eames will be there waiting for him. He has to be. Arthur will not accept any other outcome._

 _His hands are sweaty when he knocks on the door. “Eames.”_

 _Eames’s smile is blinding. “Welcome back, darling.”_

 _Arthur smiles back and walks inside, walks straight into Eames’s waiting arms._

  


~*~*~*~*~*~

  
Reality or a dream? It doesn’t matter. Not really.

Arthur is home.

  


**Author's Note:**

> 


End file.
